In the livestock industry, feed costs constitute the major cost of producing meat, milk or eggs for human consumption. Considerable research naturally centers around improving the efficiency of feed utilization. For example, in 1934, it required 14 weeks to produce a chicken broiler weighing 31/2 pounds. (Combs, G. F. 1961. Quality and Quantity of Final Product-Poultry. Proc. Fed. Am. Soc. Explt. Biol. 20, 306-312.) Conventional methods now require approximately 7 weeks to produce a 5 lb. bird.
In addition to costs associated with feed, disease control constitutes a high priority in raising livestock. Due to the large numbers of livestock handled and the confinement of large numbers of livestock in unit pens, emphasis is directed to preventing disease at the onset rather than curing diseased animals.
Among many, coccidiosis is one of the oldest and most prevalent diseases. It affects many animals, including cattle, sheep, dogs, cats and poultry. It is characterized by a parasitic infestation of the alimentary canal by protozoans. The disease is most virulent in young chickens, and is therefore of particular importance to the broiler industry. Any animal infected with coccidiosis suffers weight loss or low weight gain and often dehydration. Thus, use of coccidiostats in livestock rations, especially poultry feed, is standard practice.
Further, livestock may be stressed by a variety of environmental factors which include large numbers of livestock being confined together, handling of livestock for inspection or inoculation, for example, transportation of the livestock between pens, elevated temperatures, etc. Typically, stressed livestock require the administration of antibiotics in order to maintain the health of the animal.
In addition to disease and stress, the control of microflora is important. Microflora comprise bacteria found predominantly on the skin of animals and in the intestinal tracts. It is commonly believed that certain components of the normal intestinal microflora influence health and control of disease. The presence of microflora influences the point at which meat, milk and eggs will begin to spoil. A large bacterial count is responsible for premature food spoiling.
Efforts to control disease caused by pathogenic microflora are expensive and sometimes ineffective, and overall add to the cost of producing meat, egg and milk products. Further, the administration of expensive antibiotics also add to the costs of raising livestock. These costs are typically absorbed by the consumer.
Caramels are confectionery products obtained by heating glucose, sucrose or other reducing sugars. The time generally required to achieve caramelization is several hours, typically from 3 to 9 hours. The composition of caramels has been studied previously and caramels prepared from sucrose have been shown to contain small amounts of oligosaccharides, predominantly glucose disaccharides.
Recently, a new type of caramel containing a high content of fructose oligosaccharides, termed sucrose thermal oligosaccharides (STO), has been prepared and is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/983,446 filed Dec. 12, 1992, now U.S. Pat. No. 07/5,318,794 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
The sucrose thermal oligosaccharide (STO) caramel of U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,794 is prepared by milling sucrose and an organic acid in a ball mill for approximately 0.5 to 4 hours, heating to a temperature of 130.degree.-160.degree. C. for 0.5 to 15 minutes and cooling quickly to produce the sucrose thermal oligosaccharide (STO) caramel product. The caramel contains an unusually high content of fructose oligosaccharides.
Further, a new type of sugar composition has been prepared by the thermal reaction of amorphous sucrose in the presence of an acid catalyst at a temperature of 80 to 100.degree. C. The product comprises a mixture of sucrose thermal kestoses. The process and final products are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,355 issued Apr. 27, 1993, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
According to the present invention it has been unexpectedly discovered that STO caramels prepared according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,794 and sucrose thermal kestoses prepared according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,355, modify intestinal microflora, including bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, in livestock and other animals.
Further, according to the present invention, it has been unexpectedly discovered that the growth and health of livestock and other animals may be greatly increased by administering to the livestock or other animals STO caramel or sucrose thermal kestoses.